Proxemics

October 26, 2018

At least once a day we have an encounter that makes us uncomfortable. Whether its walking down a side walk and someone is walking too close to the invisible division that separates the directional flow. Or, maybe it’s the random guy at subway who seems nice enough, but his back and your back are to each other and you can only see him out of the corner of you eye. The most interesting time to survey people is when they are uncomfortable. Their small actions like body posture, nervous ticks, body position, and as a student, I encounter and witness these interactions often. I even catch myself sitting in class moving my personal belongings to make a box around me to make it seem like I have my own desk separate from my neighbor. All of this relates to Proxemics.

Proxemics Zone

There are three Zones in the study of Proxemics:

• The Intimate Zone
•  Personal Zone
• Social Zone
• Public

 Seeing as how my 9-year-old lab is the closest thing I have to a snuggle buddy, she is a perfect example of sharing my Intimate Zone. She sleeps in my chest and always manages to find the smallest spaces near and squeeze her 80-pond self into in. Now if anyone but my friends, family, and Bella tried to get that close to me I can guarantee that I would back myself away to create space.

Lindsay and Liv (Personal Zone)

Caroline (Social Zone)

Personal Zone to me is defined as the space where friends stand by me in line or sitting next to me in class or on the couch. The best example I have is when I sit by my close friend Liv in class I feel completely comfortable sitting near her but in turn I sit further away from the person sitting to my other side. The personal zone gets invaded when someone scoots a little too close by me or bumps into me. Though neither of those are a big deal, it still causes the sudden rise in anxiety. Although we all have our personal zone, we are used to it being invaded in certain situations like a subway where space is limited.
While walking around campus is a good example of social zone. When I stop to talk to friends the distance apart we are is a comfortable space and
to where you can talk and be friendly without being on each other. A waiter at a restaurant is also an example of being in the social zone.
Thankfully, Social cues are instilled in us to where we learn growing up how to interact with others so these rules aren’t very hard to follow or even something we think about. It is more of an overall understood way of behaving.